It has been my privilege to serve as President of the
Irish Human Rights Commission (lHRC) since 2002,
and I want to pay tribute at the outset to Judge Oonal
Barrington who was its founding President and to
all my fellow Commissioners for their service with
the Commission during those years. Their expertise,
insight and support has been invaluable in moving the
Commission from the statute book into the field of
public law and policy in the State. When the IHRC was
being established An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TO said
that it should not merely follow standards but help
to set them. We have succeeded in this and, in many
ways, represent a global example of best practice in
the human rights sphere